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University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 1325458 Tyler, Annette A PROFESSIONAL BLACK THEATRE IN BALTIMORE The American University M.A. University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1985 by Tyler, Annette All Rights Reserved A PROFESSIONAL BLACK THEATRE IN BALTIMORE by Annette Tyler submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Arts Management Signatures of Committee: Chairman: 1985 The American University Washington, D.CD.C. 20016 THE M E B I C M UNIVERSITY LIBEARY COPYRIGHT BY ANNETTE TYLER 1985 RIGHTS RESERVED A PROFESSIONAL BLACK THEATRE IN BALTIMORE BY Annette Tyler ABSTRACT No other attempt has been made to investigate the market for a professional black theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, so a feasibility study was undertaken to do so. An analysis was given of the theatre community of Baltimore. A brief history of black theatre presented an overview and development of black theatre in America from its origin in the 1700s through the resurgence of the 1980s. The methodology for this study consisted of a survey of thirty members of Baltimore's artistic community, stratified into a 50 percent black and 50 percent white sample. The data gathered was documented and processed via Mann-Whitney U Tests and T-tests. It was found that arts experts believe that there is a market for a professional black theatre in Baltimore and no racial differences (with the exception of perceptions of the potential profitability ii of such a venture) were found between black and white respondents. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank God, my parents, the late Joseph S. Tyler, Jr. and Willie D. Tyler, who believed in me and my efforts to accomplish my goals in life. I must also thank my thesis advisors, Dr. Jessica Bailey, Valerie B. Morris and Harmon S. Watson, who helped me at the start and the completion of my research. Special thanks to the many faculty members at Morgan State University, The American University, my friends and co-workers, all of whom encouraged and had patience to assist me through this endeaver. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i V LIST OF TABLES............................................... vii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION............................................1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................10 Black Theatre Baltimore Theatres The Morris A. Mechanic Theatre Center Stage Arena Players III. HYPOTHESES AND RESEARCH DESIGN....................... 52 IV. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS............................. 57 APPENDIX 1. MECHANIC THEATRE PLAYLIST 1976-1984......... 66 APPENDIX 2. CENTER STAGE PLAYLIST 1963-1985..............69 APPENDIX 3. ARENA PLAYERS PLAYLIST 1953-1983.............74 APPENDIX 4. SURVEY.......................................... 81 APPENDIX 5. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 1................................82 APPENDIX 6. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 2................................83 APPENDIX 7. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 3................................84 APPENDIX 8. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 6................................85 V APPENDIX 9. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 7 ...................................86 A P P E N D I X 10. M A N N - W H I T N E Y U TEST R E S U L T S FOR STATEMENT 10 ................................. 87 APPENDIX 11. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 9 ...................................88 APPENDIX 12. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 4 ................................... 89 APPENDIX 13. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS F O R S T A T E M E N T 1 3 ..................................90 APPENDIX 14. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 8 ................................... 91 APPENDIX 15. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS F O R S T A T E M E N T 1 1 ..................................92 APPENDIX 16. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR STATEMENT 12 ................................. 93 APPENDIX 17. T-TEST RESULTS FOR QUESTION 1 ................. 94 APPENDIX 18. T-TEST RESULTS FOR QUESTION 2 ................. 96 A P P E N D I X 19. M E A N C A L C U L A T I O N S ................................ 98 APPENDIX 20. TABLE OF CRITICAL VALUES OF U IN THE MANN-WHITNEY TEST ................... 99 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................100 vi LIST OP TABLES T A B L E 1 Population Projection for Baltimore.............. 3 T A B L E 2 Mean Responses to Survey Statements............. 58 vii You put me in Macbeth and Carmen Jones And all kinds of Swing Mikados And in everything but what's about me— But someday somebody'll Stand up and talk about me, And write about me— Black and beautiful— And sing about me, And put on plays about me! I reckon it'll be Me Myself! Yes, it'll be me. Taken from the second verse of Langston Hughes' poem "A Note On Commercial Theatre." CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Baltimore City is currently the tenth largest city in the United States. Its geographic location is unique. It is a seaport located 120 miles from the Atlantic. It is the eastern city providing the easiest entree to the heartland of the American Midwest. Furthermore, Baltimore has been called 'the northernmost southern city and the southernmost northern city.'1 Baltimore is located approximately 45 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. Because of its location, Baltimore has served as an industrial and recently a commercial center. Throughout the city's history, Baltimore has been identified by its cultural diversity, a city composed of many nationalities. "Baltimore's ethnic groups have always gravitated toward neighborhoods in which religious and cultural institutions developed to support the prevailing culture."2 ^Lenora Heilig Nast, Laurence N. Krause, and R. C. Monk, Baltimore: A Living Renaissance (Baltimore: Historic Baltimore Society, Inc., 1982), p. 64. 2Ibid. 1 2 Over 50 percent of Baltimore's population, according to the 1980 Census, is black, with 431,151 blacks compared to 345,113 whites residing in the city.^ A recent study by The Evening Sun showed that the black population of the state of Maryland has risen. The increase in Maryland's black population not only was the largest of any state but was the largest by far. Maryland moved from its 1970 position of 9th in percentage of black population to 6th— ahead of Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas. This means that if the trend continues for the next 17 years, Maryland will supplant Mississippi early in the 21st century as the most heavily black state. By contrast, there was no growth in Maryland's white population, in fact, there was a measurable decline. More specifically, the 1983 statistics for Baltimore City from the Department of State Planning predict a larger proportion of non-whites (which is inclusive of blacks) as compared to whites for the years 1990 and 2000. (See Table 1 on the following page.) ^Regional Planning Council, Census '80: Population and Housing characteristics for Regional Planning Districts (Baltimore: Regional Planning Council, March 1982), p. 1. 4"Growing black," The Evening Sun, 29 August 1983, sec. A., p. 8. 3 TABLE 1 POPULATION PROJECTION FOR BALTIMORE, MARYLAND Total Population Non-White White Years of Baltimore Population Population 1980 786,775 441,662 345,113 1990 727,999 452,869 275,130 2000 719,000 448,919 270,081 SOURCE: Interview with Jessie Ash, Maryland Department of State Planning, Baltimore, Maryland, November 9, 1983. Theatre in Baltimore "Baltimore can trace its theatrical origins to the 1770s, but the decades leading to this century were dominated by European imports."® Today in Baltimore there are several non-professional theatres. The Vagabond Players claim to be "'America's oldest continuous little theatre."'® Most of their performances are adapted from original scripts. Theatre Hopkins, Baltimore's second oldest little theatre (small, amateur and volunteer workers), was established in 1921 on the campus of The Johns Hopkins University. It presents works of new playwrights ®Nast, Baltimore: A Living Renaissance, p.